Girls rout USC, finish 10-2 in conference
The NRHEG girls’ basketball team stumbled a bit Tuesday, but it didn’t much matter.
The Panthers’ big game was Friday, and they took care of business handily.
NRHEG dominated United South Central in front of the home fans, claiming the outright Gopher Conference championship with a 68-27 victory.
“The team shot the ball well, hitting 12 three pointers — 11 of them in the first half alone,” said NRHEG coach Onika Peterson. “I am extremely proud of this team. They have been getting better every week.”
The win left the Panthers 10-2 in conference play, a game better than second-place Maple River and Blooming Prairie. The Panthers improved to 16-8 overall.
Three scorers reached double figures in the USC game, which NRHEG led 43-14 at halftime.
Sidney Schultz finished with 12 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, Betsy Schoenrock 11 points, 7 rebounds and 7 blocked shots, and Olivia Christopherson 10 points, 2 rebounds and a steal.
Also: Caitlin Goette 1 point, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Kelly Harden 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals; Lexie Ignaszewski 2 points; Hannah Budach 5 points, 1 assist; Sophie Stork 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal; Erin VanWilgen 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals; Jayna Finseth 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 blocked shot; Alexis Anderson 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Gabby Muri 5 points, 3 rebounds.
The Panthers lost a nonconference game 51-35 at Waseca earlier in the week.
“The girls worked hard and never gave up, but Waseca had too many offensive threats to contain,” said Coach Peterson.
Statistics: Goette 3 rebounds, 1 assist; Christopherson 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist; Schultz 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Budach 6 points, 1 rebound; VanWilgen 1 rebound; Stork 14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal; Anderson 2 points, 4 rebounds; Muri 3 points, 1 rebound; Schoenrock 1 point, 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots.
Boys pull away from the pack with 11-0 record
All season long, there are those who wondered if the NRHEG boys’ basketball team was a contender or just a pretender in the race for the Gopher Conference title.
Now we know.
They’re not only contenders, the Panthers are outright champions. And by an impressive margin.
The pleasantly surprising Panthers — coming off a record-setting, milestone season but needing to replace a lot of graduating players — claimed the Gopher Conference crown with a pair of victories last week, improving to 11-0 in conference play and 20-1 overall. It left Maple River a distant second with only one conference game to play for both squads.
It marks the second straight Gopher Conference title for coach Pat Churchill’s Panthers, who won the Class AA state consolation championship last year.
NRHEG 65, USC 41
The Panthers won handily against the Rebels at Wells Friday, Feb. 16.
NRHEG played perhaps its best half of defense this season while taking a 42-15 halftime advantage.
“We were struggling to get good looks against their 2-3 zone, but we were able to get some easy transition buckets off turnovers,” said Churchill. “Everything stemmed from our defense in the first half.”
The Panthers did not let the lead get below 20 in the second half as Churchill was able to clear the bench and get everyone some playing time.
Scoring: Brady Agrimson 21, Jerret Utpadel 14, Benji Lundberg 10, Jacob Schuller 9, Ryan Hannegrefs 4, Nathaniel Techau 3, Devin Buendorf 2 and Peyton Castle 2.
Colby Klocek led USC with 14.
NRHEG’s junior varsity lost 49-41.
NRHEG 56, Maple River 42
The Panthers pounded out a hard-fought win at New Richland Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Maple River jumped to an early 12-4 lead.
“They were more aggressive on the glass and we were too soft with the ball and ended up turning it over a couple times,” said Churchill.
Then Lundberg hit a few big shots to get NRHEG rolling and for most of the first half it was pretty close. NRHEG went on a late run to grab a 33-26 halftime lead.
The second half saw a bit of a dry spell in scoring for the first 5-6 minutes, but NRHEG still maintained a 35-30 lead. Then NRHEG pushed the lead to double figures and it stayed about 10 the rest of the way.
Lundberg finished with 17 points, Schuller 10, Agrimson 9 and Utpadel 8.
Mason Sohre led Maple River with 19.
NRHEG’s junior varsity won 44-37.
Redwood Valley 63, NRHEG 61
The Panthers fell short in a Saturday afternoon game at Redwood Falls. The home team led early and it was 31-26 at halftime.
“Give them credit,” said Churchill. “They played very well and we dug ourselves a couple of holes that proved to be too big”
Agrimson scored 21, Lundberg 20 and Schuller 11 for the Panthers.
The NRHEG junior varsity lost 79-64.